By Anaïs O'Donovan
For over a decade, Jak Fantastic has been a beacon of inspiration for paddling enthusiasts worldwide, clearing living up to her name. At 35 years, her journey began in Ascot, United Kingdom before leading her to North Wales. Here, along the banks of the Ogwen River, she's crafted an extraordinary life in a quaint, terraced house shared with her trusty companion, Dave, her loyal canine sidekick, and an impressive fleet of eight boats.
Jak got her first taste of kayaking at 6 years of age when she took a sit-on-top kayak out: "I was off out of the cove before anyone could stop me. It was the first time I had autonomy for being able to get somewhere under my own steam as I couldn’t walk. Suddenly being able to decide where to go and get there independently was so revolutionary to me."
Jak started her competitive career in 2002 at just 13 years of age when she
participated in the Hurley Rodeo which was a selection event for Team Great Britain.
"Despite not really knowing what I was supposed to be doing, I ended up winning and secured a spot for the Graz World Championships in 2003."
Jak's road to a kayaking career has not been easy. Born with Club Foot, which severely affected her hip and back, she's had many physical challenges from damaging her spine to having her hips screwed into place. Jak was told numerous times that she would never be able to kayak again, yet Jak has proved everyone wrong and continues to push the boundaries of the sport and inspire both men and women alike.
Jak competed at the 2023 ICF Freestyle World Championships which took place in
Columbus, Georgia where she placed 5th in the World while challenging the reigning World Champion for C1 along with the World’s best athletes (in the able bodied category). Jak set herself the goal of being able to catch the wave and support there being a C1 Women’s category. Jak was just happy to score some points as the feature being used was incredibly difficulty and she "only managed two practice rides".
As an athlete with a disability, kayaking was revolutionary for Jak; paddling is where she feels most able bodied. Jak has encountered several challenges while paddling with a disability, one of the biggest challenges has been walking along the riverbank, from scouting a rapid to walking back up to the top or carrying her boat.
Most kayakers wouldn’t even consider these tasks to be challenging but for a young woman with a disability it has proven to be quite difficult. Jak must weigh up the dangers of running a technical rapid without seeing it or getting out of her boat to scout which she feels can be more dangerous than running the section blind. ‘I’d always rather run rapids blind than get out of my boat onto the banks where I’m suddenly a liability falling over everything.’
With the help of the paddling community worldwide, she has been able to overcome some of these challenges by getting her friends to carry her boat and even having a squad of heavily armed Indonesian police carry her boat to the start of an extreme whitewater race.
The discipline of freestyle can be performed as both a kayaker (K1) or as a canoer (C1). Kayakers sit in their boats and have 2 blades at the end of their paddle while canoers kneel in their boats and only have 1 blade. Jak has done both disciplines and has found that her unique style to compensate for having a leg weakness has worked "quite well for c1 as everyone’s on their knees and have less leverage anyway".
Not only is Jak a seriously talented and hard-working athlete in the freestyle scene, but she also has a passion for everything that floats from recently falling in love with OC1 boating to purchasing a surf kayak to challenge herself in the waves. If this wasn’t enough, she is currently preparing for a 12-day multiday trip with her friends Dave and Chatak where they plan on kayaking through the Himalayas on the Brahmaputra River in India next January.
What makes Jak's journey to the World Championships even more extraordinary is the Columbus World Championships will likely mark her final major competition with both of her legs as she is due to have a right lower limb amputation.
"While I'm optimistic that this won't significantly impact my kayaking abilities, especially as this is not the first serious injury in my kayaking career, the road to recovery will undoubtedly be challenging. I view this competition as my farewell to kayaking with two legs, a celebration of spirit, and a chance to push my limits one last time," Jak said.
For anyone out there that would like to take up kayaking Jak’s advice is to "enjoy it, every time you go out on the water, it should be fun. Kayaking can be the most beautiful rewarding sport but don’t forget your stretches".
Although Jak conquered a dream, only few can say they’ve achieved, she hasn’t
fulfilled all her kayaking dreams yet. When Jak was 10, she saw an article on
kayaking in Nepal and has since been a bucket list item for Jak. No doubt Jak will achieve this dream soon!
